‘I wanted to see him myself’: Namibians show their love for Geingob

By Linea Dishena

“I wanted to see for myself, instead of hearsay, I wanted to see him with my own eyes.”

These were the words of Maliselina Libelius, who travelled from Omulukila village in the Omusati Region, to view the remains of late President Hage Geingob at Parliament Gardens in Windhoek Friday night.

Libelius joined hundreds of mourners in long queues on a drizzling evening to view Geingob’s remains.

Geingob’s remains were transported to Parliament Gardens Friday evening, where he lay in state until Saturday morning to accord the public an opportunity to pay their last respects.

A memorial service for the late president is scheduled for 14h00 at Independence Stadium.

“I want to pay my last respects to my leader for me to see that it is true, instead of hearsay. This one will say he is in the casket, the other is saying he is not there, so I wanted to see with my own eyes,” Libelius said shortly after viewing Geingob’s body Friday evening.

Libelius said Geingob was a leader who did not discriminate against any tribe, adding that he took over when Namibia faced a lot of challenges such as the drought of 2019 and COVID-19 pandemic.

“We feel hurt by the president’s death even though God’s work is not ours. We however feel like his death came too fast, therefore it hurt us. We were hoping for the president to finish his term and retire. We are not praising him [only now that] he has died, but because he did a lot of good deeds that are being acknowledged by the international world,” she noted.

Riska Garises from Windhoek, who viewed Geingob’s body at about 00h35, said Geingob’s deeds have benefitted her family through the Harambee food programme.

“President Hage was a straight talker, he would say whatever he wanted to say, he would even say ‘go create your own jobs’, he was saying many things. Some things would even hurt me and I would say ‘This guy!’ But then he also did so many good things for Namibia,” she said.
Meanwhile Erongo Chief Regional Officer, Sam Ntelamo said Geingob’s death was sudden and unexpected as the public still saw him in December.

“For us as a nation it is to remember his legacy as he did so much for the country and we should not disappoint him. We should mourn with our hope… It’s emotional but what can we do? It’s God’s call,” he said shortly after viewing the remains.

Another mourner, Quinett Hansen, expressed that it was hard to see the Head of State’s lifeless body.

“I loved my president very much… I really did not expect this. I’m really grieving but I hope and I believe as a believer that God will help us, give us strength and carry us through this time. And not only for this time, but for the rest of our lives as Namibians,” she noted.

Geingob will be laid to rest at Heroes’ Acre on the outskirts of Windhoek on Sunday.

He died on 04 February 2024 at the age of 82 in a Windhoek hospital.

He is survived by his wife Monica Geingos, eight children, three grandchildren and two siblings.

(NAMPA)
LD/AS/PS
(NAMPA)